President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin; and Anton Siluanov, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation, participated in an official ceremony to launch mining operations at the Verkhne-Munskoye Diamond Field in Yakutia.

“The new diamond field will operate for at least 20 years, ensuring reliable diamond production and providing workplaces for local residents,” ALROSA said.

At the event, Aysen Nikolaev, the Head of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia); and Sergey Ivanov, Chief Executive Officer of ALROSA Group, set off the first industrial explosion at the mine.

The preparations to launch mining operations at Verkhne-Munskoye which started in 2015, have been carried out over the last three years. As part of this process, the Company engaged in overburden removal (stripping of rock and soil covering the deposit area); constructed rotation camp and infrastructure facilities; designed and purchased special equipment.

The Verkhne-Munskoye Diamond Field is located about 170 kilometers from the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (MPD), which has a processing plant on site. As construction of a new processing plant at Verkhne-Munskoye would make the new project unprofitable, one of the key preparations for mining operations was the construction of a service lane that connected Verkhne-Munskoye field with the Udachny MPD facilities.

“Today, Verkhne-Munskoye Diamond Field is the largest investment project of ALROSA Group,” the Company declared. “At the stage of preparations for mining operations, the investment amount has reached about 16 billion rubles, and the total estimated investment amount for the whole period of the field development is thought to be about 60 billion rubles (including its maintenance capex till 2042).”

The Verkhne-Munskoye Diamond Field is expected to produce about 1.8 million carats of diamonds a year; and its expected mine life is estimated to be more than 20 years, that is till 2042.

Sergey Ivanov, Chief Executive Officer of ALROSA Group commented: “The start of mining operations at Verkhne-Munskoye Diamond Field is a great event for our company and our Northern industry-based towns. Verkhne-Munskoye field will compensate the decrease in production at other facilities, in particular, it will replace the retired capacities of Mir. Thanks in no small part to this project, ALROSA Group will be able to increase its production volume next year. The reserves of the field will provide additional work load for Processing Plant No. 12 of Udachny MPD and ensure its continuous work and stability in life of almost 12 thousand residents of Udachny. I would like to say thank you to all employees of our company, who took part in preparations for this start. You contribute in constant development of our company.”

The Company added, that in accordance with the environmental policies of ALROSA Group, which are aimed at the protection and maintenance of the integrity of the existing natural ecosystems, some peculiarities of Yakutia fauna were taken into consideration in the design of the service lane (road) from the field to Udachny. “The company constantly monitors reindeers’ migration in the area of operations performed by Udachny MPD to maintain their population level in the area of commercial diamond production and protect the traditional way of life of low-numbered peoples of the North,” ALROSA said. “On the basis of the monitoring results obtained in past years, the design of the service lane to Verkhne-Munskoye field provides 5 crossings to ensure trouble free migration of animals. Thanks to GPS-tracking system used to monitor reindeers, all the equipment can be stopped before a herd starts crossing the road.”